As the 2010 election approaches, Burma's ethnic armies are becoming restless...
"OVER the past decade, a patchwork of ceasefire agreements, if not actual peace, has reigned over most of Burma's ethnic hinterland. Of the many ethnic insurgent armies that once battled the Burmese regime, only a handful are still waging active military campaigns. The rest remain armed, but have shown little appetite for renewed fighting - so far.
With an election planned for sometime next year, however, the status quo is looking increasingly unsustainable. The junta is pushing its erstwhile adversaries to form parties and field candidates, and while some have unenthusiastically complied, others have begun to chafe at the persistent pressure..."

Executive Summary:
"On 10 May 2008, just one week after Cyclone Nargis tore through Burma.s Irrawady Delta killing an estimated 100,000 people and leaving at least one million others homeless, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the Burmese military regime, held a referendum on its draft constitution.
In the weeks prior to the referendum, numerous pro-democracy groups, governments, and international organizations expressed concerns as to whether the SPDC would conduct the referendum in a free and fair manner, in accordance with international norms and standards for free and fair referendum processes. These groups reported that the junta was systematically threatening voters to sway them to vote in favor of the constitution, purposefully spreading misinformation to confuse voters, and suppressing all criticism of the referendum and draft constitution. Reports indicate that similar activities continued on the day of the referendum.
The purpose of this report is to analyze whether the SPDC conducted the May 10th constitutional referendum in Burma in accordance with basic international standards for free and fair referendum processes. The report reviews basic standards for constitutional referendums and, using media and other reports, analyzes the administration of the referendum under those standards.
The report finds that the referendum was not free or fair, as it was not conducted in accordance with international law or basic democratic standards."
2

"...On May 10, 2008, the Burmese military government will hold a referendum on a draft constitution that it claims will usher in a new era of “discipline-flourishing genuine multiparty democracy.”
However, the generals’ referendum, reflecting 46 years of brutal military rule, will not bring the people of Burma any closer to a democratic and rights-respecting government they so desperately seek, and for which they have courageously struggled. Instead, the draft constitution that the generals are demanding the Burmese people approve is designed to perpetuate military control in Burma, and obstruct any steps toward a meaningful multiparty democracy that upholds human rights.
The environment in Burma prior to the referendum has been one of continuing intimidation of the political opposition and general populace, denial of basic freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, and arbitrary arrests and detention. Under such widespread repression and a pervasive climate of fear, no free and fair referendum can take place in Burma.
Since the military crackdown on monks and pro-democracy protestors in August-September 2007, foreign governments and intergovernmental bodies have responded in varying ways. International criticism may be partly responsible for the referendum being announced, in February 2008, but it will not ensure that the vote is conducted freely. Concerted public pressure and targeted sanctions by the military government’s international supporters as well as its detractors is needed if there is to be any hope that real democratic progress, rather than further constitutional travesties, can be achieved..."

"The Burmese military government’s announcement that a constitutional referendum will be held in May, followed by elections in 2010, has taken everyone by surprise...
“The time has now come to change from military rule to democratic civilian rule,” the state media reported.
Democratic civilian rule in Burma?
Unfortunately, no one is convinced. We suspect that any transition the junta has in mind would be very much one-sided and would guarantee that regime leaders take off their uniforms but hold on to power..."

Despite its many promises of reform, Burma’s ruling junta has no intention of giving up political control...
"For more than a decade, Burma’s military government has convened its constitution-drafting body, the National Convention, in fits and starts that have left the country and outside observers skeptical about its commitment to political reform.
It was in this spirit, at least in theory, that the State Peace and Development Council, the ruling junta, and then Prime Minister Khin Nyunt promoted the so-called “seven-step roadmap to democracy” in 2003.
This seemingly new vision of political reform, however, was just another step by the generals to reinvent their role in the country’s political process—something they’ve done since the current crop of dictators seized control in 1988..."

Under the guise of national reconciliation, the Tatmadaw tightens its hold on the State...
"The National Convention went into recess at a critical phase for the junta at the beginning of February, but most observers suspect they know which way the pendulum will swing once the constitution-drafting body reconvenes later this year.
After 13 years of stop-start deliberation, delegates are on the brink of finalizing exactly what role the Tatmadaw (armed forces) will play in Burma's future. Unsurprisingly, the military's prospects look very good. One of their objectives is to have the armed forces play a leading role in politics.
The National Convention Convening Committee's Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Thein Seinâ”has proposed 14 principles concerning the role of the Army which look certain to be approved in the next session..."

Can free elections lead to democratic reform?...
"While future elections in Burma remain a part of the ruling junta’s seven-point “road map” for democratic reform, the significance of such elections—and their likelihood of leading to democratic reform—remains unclear.
“The government has established a seven-point road map for democracy, and that map is the chief political focus of the state,” says Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the leader of Burma’s military junta. Ousted Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt first introduced the so-called road map two years ago.
As long as the soldiers hold their arms at the ready, [a constitutional draft] will become the law
The announcement of the seven-point plan, which includes a revival of the twelve-year old National Convention, came shortly after Thai officials in Bangkok made a similar suggestion to the military regime. The convention bears the daunting responsibility of drafting a new constitution that must then get approval by a referendum and ultimately lead to free elections.
Fifteen years have passed since Burma’s last election, in which the National League for Democracy won a landslide victory but was prevented from assuming their rightful control of the government. Since that time, many opposition leaders have died or have retired from public life. Still more languish in Burma’s prisons.
Will the outcome be any different for future elections in Burma?
“It makes no difference that those elected in 1990 have either died, are still living in prisons or are too intimidated to speak out. The constitutional draft will be adopted,” said Josef Silverstein, a long time US-based researcher on Burma. “As long as the soldiers hold their arms at the ready, it will become the law,” he added..."

N.B. THIS TEXT IS IN A CONSTANT STATE OF UPDATING. CHECK http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/how10.htm FOR THE LATEST VERSION...Introduction:
"This guide is not so much an analysis – political, legal or other -- of the “roadmap” as an introduction to some of the elements, in particular the National Convention process, which the “roadmap” is based on. For analyses, see Roadmaps/National Convention in the Online Burma/Myanmar Library. This guide has a limited scope and makes three main points:
* The first and most crucial stage of the "roadmap" announced by Gen. Khin Nyunt on 30 August 2003 is the re-launch, scheduled for May 17 2004, of the 1993-1996 National Convention, and there is no indication by Burmese military spokesmen that the resumed Convention will differ substantially in structure or procedure from its earlier form;
* The abundant commentaries and documentation on the 1993-1996 National Convention apply equally to this stage of the "roadmap";
* International, regional and national actors should take these into account when assessing the "roadmap" and developing their policies.
A frequent comment on the “roadmap” is that details are lacking. If, however, as seems likely, the reconvened National Convention follows its 1993-1996 pattern, we actually know a great deal about the first, crucial step of the “roadmap” by way of documentation and commentary.
The present guide sets the “roadmap” within this process, itself a stage in the events which followed the collapse of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) in 1988, the coming of the SLORC[2], the 1990 elections and their aftermath. The guide:
1) Provides a chronology and documentation of the shifting positions of the Burmese military from 1988 onwards with regard to handing over power to the party which won the elections -- from the 1988 promise of unconditional transfer of power, to the NLD’s apparent exclusion in August 2003 from any authority or responsibility at all deriving from the electoral mandate of 1990;
2) Provides introductions and hyperlinks to a substantial collection of commentaries and documentation on the National Convention process, which the “roadmap” is intended to complete (something not denied by the SPDC[3]);
3) Recommends that international, regional and national actors recognise the “roadmap” as an integral part of the National Convention process and that they study the purpose, principles and procedure of the whole process when developing their policies..."

"The recent report by the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR), Badgley, J.H. (2004) “Reconciling Burma/Myanmar: Essays on U.S. Relations with Burma”[3 March 2004], presented a shamelessly one-sided set of arguments for changing United States policy towards Myanmar. This paper tries to redress the balance, and to present both sides of the argument concerning what is, after all, a complex and heated issue. Two “core arguments” of the NBR report are identified and discussed, and in contrast the author develops two “core counter-arguments” for maintaining, with modifications, the existing U.S. policies with respect to Myanmar..."

"...The “roadmap” envisages a resumed National Convention based on the 104 Principles and the Detailed Basic Principles (which incorporate the six “objectives”, including the “Participation of the Tatmadaw in the leading role of national politics of the State in (the) future”) and the task is presumably to draft the remaining chapters of the Detailed Basic Principles. There is no mention in the “roadmap” of any role for the elected representatives. According to the “roadmap”, after the constitution is completed, it will be put to a referendum and new elections held. There is no reference whatsoever to the 1990 elections...
The “roadmap” therefore conflicts with the UN General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions adopted by consensus for more than a decade which affirm, in various formulations, that "the will of the people is the basis of the authority of government and that the will of the people of Myanmar was clearly expressed in the elections held in 1990" (UNGA, December 2003). It is difficult to understand how international actors can justify support for a process so clearly in conflict with these resolutions which embody the international consensus."

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Foreword:
"An intellectual “tectonic shift” is underway, making a precarious policy even harder to
justify. This rather unusual issue of the NBR Analysis does not stem from an NBR-sponsored
project or study. Instead, it emerged as an initiative from an extraordinary assemblage of
Burma scholars, all of whom regard last year’s announcement of a “road map” for constitutional
change, the ongoing progress toward cease-fires with ethnic insurgents, and the worsening
impact of sanctions on the general populace, as an opportunity to re-examine U.S. relations
with Burma. Recognizing that the current situation may be conducive to taking a fresh
perspective, and noting the significance of so many top Burma specialists reaching similar
conclusions and working together, we decided to publish their essays.
The scholars in this volume represent a range of perspectives. What is especially notable
is that they collaborated in this enterprise and concur that the U.S. policy of sanctions is not
achieving its worthy objective—progress toward constitutional change and democratization in
Burma. Moreover, as some of these authors argue, viewing U.S.-Burma relations solely through
this lens, important as it is, may be harming other U.S. strategic interests in Southeast Asia,
both in terms of the ongoing war against terrorism and long-term objectives regarding the
United States’ role as a regional security guarantor. The desperate humanitarian situation in the
country, as detailed in many of these essays, and concerns about possible WMD-related
activities only underscore the importance of looking at this issue again. U.S. policymakers in
particular ought to consider whether it is now appropriate to take a more realistic, engaged
approach, while easing restrictions on humanitarian assistance, programs to build civil society,
and the forces of globalization that are needed for the Burmese peoples’ socio-economic
progress and solid transition to civilian government and democracy..."
Richard J. Ellings,
President,
The National Bureau of Asian Research...
"Strategic Interests in Myanmar" - John H. Badgley;
"Myanmar’s Political Future: Is Waiting for the Perfect
the Enemy of Doing the Possible?" - Robert H. Taylor;
"Burma/Myanmar: A Guide for the Perplexed?" - David I. Steinberg;
"King Solomon’s Judgment" - Helen James;
"The Role of Minorities in the Transitional Process" - Seng Raw; "Will Western Sanctions Bring Down the House?" -
Kyaw Yin Hlaing; "The Crisis in Burma/Myanmar:
Foreign Aid as a Tool for Democratization" - Morten B. Pedersen;

"Affirming that the will of the people is the basis of the authority of government and that the will of the people of Myanmar was clearly expressed in the elections held in 1990" -- a consistent message from the UN bodies from 1991.

"Virtually all ethnic militias in Burma now support the ruling junta's so-called ``road map'' to democracy, following a pledge of support by a major group, state-owned newspapers reported February 24..."

"Representatives of 25 ethnic groups and alliances in Burma have rejected the "road map" to democracy outlined by Prime Minister Khin Nyunt.
At a meeting held in Burma in the last few days the ethnic groups are said to have reiterated their call for the military government to start talks. They also want the opposition National League for Democracy to take part..."

"Robert H Taylor is a consultant on Myanmar and Southeast Asian Affairs and recently was a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. He has taught in the US, UK, and Australia and has written and edited several books and articles on Burma’s politics and history. He spoke with The Irrawaddy about Burma under military rule and the government’s road map proposal for the country’s future.
Question: Why are many Burmese and foreign observers and diplomats skeptical about the seven-point road map plan?
Answer: Well, it’s a question of whether you see the cup half full or half empty. And whether your interim goal is immediate full democratization and the withdrawal of the Army from politics or some sort of transitional, interim step. If you take the view of the US State Department and people of that ilk that the Army has to give up power instantly and hand it over to the NLD, that’s definitely not going to happen. If you take the view that the compromise deal which allowed a greater degree of political space in Myanmar [Burma] society, the development of political institutions in conjunction with the Army, that the Army has a role for a while in the management of the state, perhaps in conjunction with groups in civil society and ceasefire groups and political parties, then you can see it as an optimistic possibility. I’ve always taken the view that things don’t leap overnight from black to white. There’s a lot of processes in the middle, provisional steps, evolutionary processes and go forward in that way..."

This speech is a presentation of the SPDC's "roadmap" and contains in the annex the "104 Principles" on which the roadmap is based. These "principles" were developed by committee in the course of the National Convention and published in "The New Light of Myanmar" (NLM) on 17 September 1993. There are some differences between U Khin Maung Win's version of the Principles and that published in NLM. The Alternate URL contains the NLM version.

Author/creator:

H-E. U Khin Maung Win (Myanmar Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs)

Language:

English

Source/publisher:

Myanmar Institute for Stategic and International Affairs Seminar on Understanding Myanmar

"A reshuffle in Burma’s leadership and a new "road map" for national reconciliation have led some to believe that 2004 will at last bring democracy to this benighted land. Don’t hold your breath..."
By Aung Zaw

"...
The primary objective of the report is to offer ideas that can assist the main actors on the political stage of Myanmar - the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) government, the National League for Democracy (NLD) and other political parties, and the ethnic nationalities - to break the current political deadlock and to find a solution that will be creative, pragmatic, and mutually acceptable and one that will reinforce the sovereignty and integrity of the Union of Myanmar.
The report is in 3 parts. The first part explains the nexus between Myanmar, ASEAN/Japan/China/India and the west. The second part clarifies the critical issues that constrain cooperation among the internal forces within Myanmar. The last part presents recommendations for breaking the Myanmar deadlock.
In writing the report, the ADS members were mindful of the prevailing realities, including the following: the dominant position of the SPDC government in preserving national sovereignty and developing the country; the pressures from the political parties and the ethnic nationalities for a legitimate participatory role; the increasing pressure on Myanmar from the international community; and the limited opportunity for Myanmar’s friends and neighbors to play a more positive role in bringing about stability to the country and region.
The ADS is of the view that the ultimate “solution” to end the deadlock, one which can initiate a genuine process of national reconciliation, must come from the aforementioned 3 stake holding groups and the Myanmar people themselves. The report therefore has outlined some broad principles that can be a useful platform from which dialogue can be initiated between and among the SPDC, the political parties, and the ethnic groups.
The report makes several recommendations but the most important concerns the principle that can help break the deadlock The ADS has looked very carefully at the “road map” to democracy announced by the SPDC. To enhance the navigability of this road map to democracy, the ADS has recommended the setting up of a Council for National Reconciliation and Concord (CNRC). This Council should include members from all 3 groups and several eminent persons who can be nominated by a collective decision of the 3 groups (Article 75). The role of this CNRC is to be advisory: for instance, it can advise on the composition and role of the National Convention and other committees and agencies (Article 76-79).
The CNRC can be an inclusive process and will give those currently outside the fold of government a genuine opportunity to participate in the process of reconciliation as stakeholders through dialogue and debate.
The report has been careful to stress that the details of the modalities, if this framework is considered attractive, are to be worked out among the various groups in a spirit of give and take. The spirit of compromise itself will be enhanced if other self-confidence measures from all sides are also undertaken.
The role of the international community is also critical. The report calls upon ASEAN to be more fully engaged with Myanmar in the spirit of “flexible engagement”, that is, as neighbors, they should be more proactively involved in finding a solution to the Myanmar question.
The ADS also believes that to prevent instability in an important corner of Asia, it is in the long-term interests of China, Japan and India to fully cooperate, especially with ASEAN and with one another, to promote policies that can contribute to the stability of Myanmar and Southeast Asia, and of Asia as a whole.
Finally, in offering this report to the leaders and people of the Union of Myanmar, the ADS is guided not by any sense of “activism” but by their collective experience and their belief that Myanmar can and should contribute to the strengthening of ASEAN solidarity and stability."
15 December 2003

December 04, 2003— "The National Convention is once again the talk of the town in Burmese political circles. When Burma’s new Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt announced the junta’s seven-point homegrown recipe for democracy, the first step was the resumption of National Convention that adjourned in early 1996.
...
The regime has now succeeded in persuading almost all the ethnic groups—ceasefire and non-ceasefire—to climb on the road map bandwagon. With the legitimacy they will add to the National Convention, the junta can undermine Aung San Suu Kyi’s election-winning National League for Democracy (NLD) party, since the opposition also depends on an alliance with ethnic groups..."

December 04, 2003— "A delegation from the Karen National Union (KNU) which arrived in Rangoon yesterday will meet Burmese Prime Minister, Gen Khin Nyunt, to find out whether the junta’s proposed road map for national reconciliation is genuine, said the KNU’s deputy chairman..."

November 17, 2003—"When UN Secretary General Kofi Annan criticized the Burmese military’s seven-step road map as one-sided, the opposition and analysts welcomed Annan’s critique. But the ruling generals have showed no desire to respond to his suggestions.
This is because the main alliance of leaders in the region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), has already backed Rangoon’s road map. While the US, European Union and Japan have expressed their opposition, Burma’s most powerful neighbors, China and India, have offered no comment. China and India have said they want to stay out of Burma’s "internal affairs." It certainly illustrates how divisive the issue has been for the international community..."

November 12, 2003— "UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan criticized the Burmese junta’s proposed road map for political reconciliation in a report to the UN General Assembly on Monday.
"The only way to ensure that the road map process is productive and credible, and proceeds in a stable and orderly fashion, is for it to involve all political parties, national leaders, ethnic nationalities and strata of society, from the beginning," he said.
Opposition parties and ethnic groups inside and outside Burma have also expressed their strong disagreement with the plan forwarded by Burmese Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt..."

November 10 (UN News Centre)...
"The Government of Burma’s proposed seven-step road map to democracy does not include the opinions expressed by several parties in the country and has not shown that the process will be participatory and transparent, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a human rights report..."

"...A "tripartite" meeting held in Panghsang, 13-15 October, agreed on a 5-point position as a prerequisite for the upcoming "National Convention" to be summoned by Rangoon, according to a joint statement that was received by S.H.A.N. this morning (19 October)...
The 5 conditions jointly set by Mongla, Shan and Wa representatives are as follows:
* Freedom of meeting among leaders of ethnic nationalities prior to the convening of the National Convention;
* Delegates to the National Convention to be chosen freely by each nationalities concerned;
* The National Convention must be all inclusive and participated by "proper" delegates;
* Freedom of discussion and freedom of activities during the National Convention;
* To lay down democratic principles in order to establish a modern and developed new democratic state.

"Transition in Burma may come abruptly - perhaps as a result of a 1988-style peoples’ uprising - or more gradually, and with less bloodshed. The latter scenario may involve a power-sharing arrangement between the SPDC and the opposition, or a gradual process of regime reform’, with little direct in-put from the wider society or opposition forces.
Although opposition tactics will vary according to the circumstances, a number of strategic considerations remain the same. However and whenever change occurs, members of Burma’s diverse social groups must be ready to act.
In general, opposition strategies have focused on elite-level politics, rather than grass-roots democratisation. However, both approaches are necessary - while neither is sufficient in itself. Change at the national level is urgently needed, but sustained democratic transition can only be achieved if accompanied by local participation and development from below’.
Among the three parties to any tripartite negotiations in Burma, the ethnic nationalities in particular could benefit from a combination of elite-level, blueprint-type solutions and a grass-roots, participatory approach, aimed at strengthening civil society. Although overseas-based activists and Burma-watchers have sometimes assumed that there is no civil society in the country, this far from true. The re-emergence of local networks within and between ethnic nationality communities over the past decade has been one of the most significant - but under-reported - aspects of the social and political situation in Burma. Efforts to build local democracy are already underway - in government-controlled areas, in some ethnic nationality-populated ceasefire and war zones, and in neighbouring countries. However, these 'bottom-up' initiatives will not bring about substantial change, without accompanying 'top-down', national-level reforms..."
This text formed the basis of Ashley South's presentation to the Burma Day 2003: Political and humanitarian options for the international community’ conference, Brussels, Wednesday 8 October 2003. A slightly abridged version appeared in two parts, in the Irrawaddy Online, October 16-17.

"A road map proposed by an ethnic coalition provides an alternate route for Burma’s political future. But proceed at your own risk...
Road maps are all the rage this year for Burma. Shortly after freshly appointed Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt unveiled the military government’s seven-point blueprint for Burma’s future, a coalition of ethnic groups threw its hat into the political ring as well.
In early September, the Ethnic Nationalities Solidarity and Cooperation Committee (ENSCC) announced a two-stage formula to rebuild Burma and generate confidence in a transition to democracy. The group formed just over two years ago to bring together representatives from the Karenni National Progressive Party, the National Democratic Front and the United Nationalities League for Democracy (Liberated Area). Some critics have cynically called the road map a last-ditch effort by its drafters to carve out a meaningful role in Burma’s political transition. Others say its based on a faulty premise—that the military will refuse to negotiate with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at all costs. Regardless of the criticism, the ethnic initiative, at the very least, provides another way out of Burma’s political deadlock..."

1. Just and equitable investigation of the Tabayin episode; 2. The political road map drawn by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is entirely unacceptable to the United Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD); 3. Immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners who under some pretext or another are incarcerated since 1988; 4. The National League for Democracy, which won the majority of seats in the 1990 election, and the SPDC meet and exchange views;
5. The basic democratic rights of all citizens should be restored.

"On August 30, Burmese Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt announced that Burma would reconvene the long-suspended National Convention, the first step in the "road map of Myanmar" he laid out in his inaugural address. A week later, a panel of high-ranking army officers was appointed to the National Convention Convening Committee.
Rangoon has tried for the past eight years to produce a junta-friendly constitution through the National Convention. Clearly, it has failed. But the new moves—the decision to resume the convention and the reorganization of the Convention Committee—may signal that the junta is more resolute about achieving the goals of the convention. Nevertheless, the Burmese generals will face the same hurdles experienced in the previous efforts to draft a constitution..."

"... in spirit of Panglong, we are committed to national reconciliation and to the rebuilding of the Union as equal partners in the process. We believe that in order to establish a stable, peaceful and prosperous nation, the process of rebuilding the Union must be based on a democratic process which includes the following basic principles:
1. A peaceful resolution of crisis in the Union
2. The resolution of political problems through political dialogue
3. Respect for the will of the people,
4. The recognition and protection of the rights of all citizens of the Union,
5. The recognition and protection of the identity,language, religion, and culture rights all of
nationalities,
6. The recognition and protection of the rights of the constituent states of the Union through
a federal arrangement.
Therefore, in the interest of the nation, we recommend a two-stage process to generate confidence in the transition to democracy:..."

"Returning to past tactics, the junta has announced a plan for Burma’s future...
The much-anticipated inaugural address from Burma’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Gen Khin Nyunt, was a severe but hardly unexpected letdown for Burmese everywhere.
Shortly after his speech at the Parliament building, political commentators, journalists and opposition party members within Burma daringly expressed their frustration to international shortwave radio stations. Dissidents and ethnic leaders abroad also voiced their disappointment with the speech’s ambiguity.
Khin Nyunt claimed that his government has a seven-point plan and would resume long-suspended work on the drafting of a new constitution, paving the way for an elected government in Rangoon.
Sound familiar? It should..."

"On August 26 Burma’s ruling military government announced a reshuffle of their cabinet that saw Gen Than Shwe take on the role of President and the former Secretary 1, Gen Khin Nyunt take on the newly installed position of Prime Minister, effectively making him responsible for the day-to-day political running of the country. One of his first duties after becoming Prime Minister was to deliver a speech that, amongst a lot of fluffy words and self-praise, introduced the SPDC’s own Road Map of Myanmar, a 7 point-plan that outlined their political program for rebuilding the nation. Unfortunately these 7 points were merely repetitive of past words and failed actions. The speech itself was more memorable for what it did not mention than any innovative new ways to deal with Burma’s political conflict and transition..."

"The plan announced recently by General Khin Nyunt to revive the national convention, draft a constitution, and hold elections following a national referendum is nothing more than a political ploy to ease mounting international pressure and prolong military rule..."

Language:

English

Source/publisher:

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) via "Asian Tribune"

Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt clarifies future policies and programmes of State:
Adjourned National Convention to be reconvened
New Constitution will be drafted in accord with basic principles laid down by NC.
Constitution will be adopted through referendum...
Official transcript of Gen. Khin Nyunt's "roadmap" which includes the resurrection of the National Convention.

“Framework of Scenarios” for a Roadmap toward Democracy and Federalism in Burma...
"In light of crisis situation in Burma, political intervention from the international community is needed to help Burma avert the impending confrontation and bloodshed. And, that intervention should come in the form of a comprehensive road map for national reconciliation and democratization in Burma. The UN Secretary-General should therefore take a lead in formulating a roadmap in consultation with key international actors, taking into account visions and opinions of all stakeholders in Burma and the democracy and exile movements abroad. Immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders are instrumental to begin a participatory consultation process for the formulation of a road map.
There are several essential objectives that should be taken into consideration when developing a comprehensive “roadmap” toward democracy and federalism in Burma..."

August 05, 2003—"Kobsak Chutikul is Vice-Chairman of Thailand’s House Foreign Affairs Committee and Deputy Leader of the Chart Thai Party. He talked with about his "road map" concept for Burma, and the role of Asean in solving Burma’s political crisis..."

This important 1996 analysis of Burma's National Convention , which has not convened in plenary since 1996, may be of interest to those who are concerned about the military regime's intention to resurrect it, in a renewed effort to bypass the results of the 1990 elections...
"Rather than moving Burma toward democracy, the National Convention is impeding the democratization process by failing to create structures of accountability and transparency and by obstructing processes for growth of independent political life...
The National Convention and the SLORC's repression of political freedoms and genuine political dialogue violate Burma's UN Charter obligations, illuminated by the Universal Declaration [of human rights] ..."...OVERVIEW AND SUMMARY;
I DEVELOPMENTS LEADING TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTION;
II. THE NATIONAL CONVENTION:
A. Supplanting the Will of the People expressed by Electoral Mandate;
1. Permanent Minority Role for Elected Representatives;
2. Restrictions on Freedoms of Convention Delegates ...
B. Obstructing Genuine Dialogue...
C. Dismantling Political Structures and Suppressing Independent Activity:
1. Nullification of Elected Candidates' Status;
2. De-registration of Political Parties;
3. Political Restrictions on Parties and Activists...
D. Ensuring Permanent Military Control over Law and Politics:
1. Constitutional Principles that Entrench Military Control;
2. Development of a Nationwide Patronage System for Political Support...
II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW:
1. Obstruction of Political and Associational Rights;
2. Violations of Economic and Social Rights...
III. RECOMMENDATIONS... ANNEXES:
I Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law, State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No. 14/89, 31 May 1989;
II Letter from Aung Shwe, Chairman of the National League for Democracy, to Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the
State Law and Order Restoration Council, dated 25 March 1996 (to arrange for convening of the first Pyithu Hluttaw (legislature)) (official translation);
III Law Amending the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law, State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No. 10/91,10 July 1991;
IV Letter from Aung Shwe, Chairman of the National League for Democracy, to Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Law and Order
Restoration Council, dated 28 March 1996 (protest against lawless proceedings) (official translation).

Author/creator:

Janelle M. Diller

Language:

English

Source/publisher:

International League for Human Rights, Rights and Democracy (International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development)